Monday, 30 January 2012

In progress: Self Portrait with Greg, sitting on a lovely batik tablecloth (just in case you were thinking that the pattern on the right was a really nice part of my painting). The details need to be fixed up and then it will be cut out. I am a bit disappointed with it but I am going to put it away for today and go onto something else.

The pencil drawing, before I started painting over it, above. The painting is based on a photo of me which was taken by Alice, aged 10. Thank you very much for your help, Alice!

Above and below, some of my favourite patterns from his Glorious Knitting book first published in 1985. Ignorance is bliss: Fassett initially worked as a watercolour painter with an interest in colour and pattern. When he began to translate this interest to knitting he was blissfully unaware of its traditional rules, and broke most of them. We are all the richer for it.

It's an interesting story to keep in mind when trying a new craft or medium. I tend to prefer to know the rules before I break them but maybe there's just as much to be said for doing it the other way around.

Saturday, 7 January 2012

An image from a 1930s Encyclopedia Brittanica advertisement which I bought last year on Etsy and finally framed.

As you can see above Ms Salami is beside herself with joy at her new hallway friends.

This is how the bedroom bookshelf looks when it's tidy(!).

Bookshelf hijinks in the hallway. Love these dolls/ this doll...

Where I am sitting right now. I took this photo yesterday. Yes, a stick is holding up the curtain. I was wondering what the image on the computer was, and when I blew it up it seemed -- ahem -- like a woman without clothes on. I feel the need to explain: it's actually this album cover. (I have never claimed to have sophisticated taste in music.) Here is another album cover from my collection.

Thursday, 5 January 2012

Further to my final post from last year: I made a blouse. I am pleased to say that I used 1970s madras cotton fabric that was originally in my mum's stash, purple buttons and thread from the estate of Mrs Betty Collins.

I feel a bit proud of my scarves as they dry in the summer breeze. I am almost ready for my next knitting project, although knitting in the heat is not always an appealing prospect.

I feel a bit more ambivalent about this lot, photographed as it receives some fresh air after having been folded away in a little wicker suitcase which wasn't as dust proof as I had hoped. Samples from my first ever design job at Davenport in the mid 1990s. I feel a bit brave showing these on my blog, but they are what they are and from a design point of view I am actually still proud of a few of them. I was hired initially to draw the licensed characters, had no design training and had barely ever touched a computer. I received an excellent grounding in design, manufacturing methods, meeting tight deadlines, and making products to entice a particular market. I try not to think about the trials and tribulations of terrible bosses and a bunch of hormonally wired and badly paid twenty-somethings: that's another story not fit for this polite blog.

Hello!

This blog is both a record of my work and an attempt to contribute to the vast inspiration that thousands of other creative people have given me via the internet.
I worked for many years in the fashion industry, designing prints, textiles and developing products for children. I now work as a freelance illustrator and make a variety of work under my own name. Some of the things that I make can be found in my etsy shop and in galleries and stores around Australia.